Kumbh Mela: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Visits Rishikesh To Review Arrangements In View Of Covid Spread

Haridwar Kumbh begins on April 1 and parts of Rishikesh fall in the area notified as Mela Kshetra.

File Photo: PTI

Rishikesh: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Om Prakash on Friday visited the Kumbh mela area in Rishikesh and expressed his dissatisfaction over the arrangements at the government hospital there.

Asking the hospital administration to improve the condition of wards and repair non-functional lifts by March 31, the chief secretary said he will visit it once again on April 6 to take stock of arrangements.

However, the official was happy with the arrangements done at the Triveni Ghat, one of the famous banks of the Ganga where devotees converge during Kumbh for a bath.

Haridwar Kumbh begins on April 1 and parts of Rishikesh fall in the area notified as Mela Kshetra.

Uttarakhand High Court lawyer Shiv Bhatt who represents a petitioner who has gone to court complaining about inadequate arrangements in view of COVID-19 in the Kumbh Mela area also accompanied the chief secretary.

The high court had recently issued orders to the state government to strengthen the arrangements in the Kumbh Mela area and ensure strict compliance of COVID-19 guidelines.

Mela official Deepak Rawat, Dehradun District Magistrate Ashish Shrivastava and Tehri DM Iva Ashish Shrivastatva were also with the chief secretary who reviewed the arrangements at a number of places, including the bathing ghats of the Lakshman Jhula and Swargashram, Lakshmi Narayan, Geeta Bhawan and Paramartha Niketan premises.